Rahul Dravid ended his tenure with the Indian cricket team by ending 17 year long World Cup trophy drought. The former head coach of team India is replaced by veteran former Indian cricketer, Gautam Gambhir.
Gautam Gambhir was the head coach of Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. Now, there are strong speculations that the Indian Premier League is yearning for Rahul Dravid to join one of its franchises, as the head coach.
There are rumors that Dravid may join his debut team, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) but stronger speculations go with Rajasthan Royals.
Rahul Dravid’s previous stint with Rajasthan Royals
Though Rahul Dravid’s debut in the Indian Premier League was with RCB after switching to Rajasthan Royals, he became the face of the RR. He joined the Rajasthan Royals in 2011 and he captained the team to the Champions League T20 final. In 2013, he led them to the playoffs while in 2014 and 2015 Dravid took on the mentorship role.
In the inaugural season of IPL(2008), Rajasthan Royals won the champions trophy. Since then, it hungers for the trophy. Back in 2007, the Indian cricket team had also won the T20 World Cup trophy in the inaugural edition of the tournament and had to wait for 17 years to end the trophy drought. Rajasthan Royals made it to the finals and semi-finals after being the debut season champions.
Likewise, the Indian cricket team made it to the finals and semi-finals but the 17-year-long drought was finally ended by the Rahul Dravid mentored team in 2024. In the IPL 2024, RR was knocked out in the playoff, only one match away from the trophy. Hopefully, Rahul Dravid can come to rescue the team as it rescued the Indian cricket team.
According to TOI, sources have revealed that Rahul Dravid will most likely return to Rajasthan Royals,
“Talks are going on between RR and Dravid, and an announcement in this regard is around the corner,”
It has been sixteen years of struggle for Rajasthan Royals to taste the trophy since 2008. With Rahul Dravid on the board, RR can expect a change of events. It is with Dravid that RR may also have the end of a trophy drought.
How have Rajasthan Royals been doing?
The Sanju Samson-led team was defeated in the playoffs by Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2024. Though in season 2023, Yashasvi Jaiswal was the ‘Emerging Player of the Season’ RR finished fifth in the season. And in the 2022 edition of the IPL, RR made it to the finals but lost the game to Gujrat Titans.
Rajasthan Royals have proved themselves to be one of the strong contenders in the Indian Premier League but the team lacks the right approach and orientation. It is the winning mentality of Rahul Dravid, they must be seeking.
Rahul Dravid has also led the U-19 Indian cricket team to victory in the 2018 U-19 Cricket World Cup. He knows how to hone the skills of a team of young players. This experience from The Wall (as Dravid is called), can be used by Rajasthan Royals players, who can be groomed constructively by him to clinch the trophy in the next season.
Rajasthan Royals currently doesn’t have a head coach and Rahul Dravid didn’t want to continue his tenure with the Indian cricket team as head coach because he didn’t want to stay away from his family for 10 months. At IPL, he will be mentoring the players only for 2-3 months. To have Rahul Dravid on board suits both RR and the former head coach as well.
Tabinda Mir is a writer from Kashmir. She is an English Honours graduate and her interests primarily dwell in poetry and sports writing. She likes to cover Cricket as an avid fan. Apart from sports, her other publications include articles, poems and a letter to summer in the book titled, “Under The Summer Skies”.
Also, her leisure time activities include reading novels, poetry, non literary works, philosophies and writing poetry, short stories, articles on diverse themes.
